Yesteryear Chapter 2: Leaving Idaho – Summary & Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
At seventeen, narrator Nattie leaves her family for the first time to attend Harvard University in Boston. She recalls her father, a man who made cruel jokes at her expense; he died (or so her mother said) when Nattie was ten. In reality, her father abandoned the family for a woman from his bowling league, and her mother instructed the girls to tell teachers he was “no longer with us.” Growing up, Nattie’s mother worked as a secretary and crocheted baby items for church families. The community was deeply religious, with strict gender roles: women were mothers, wives, and homemakers. When Nattie receives a full-ride scholarship to Harvard, her mother reluctantly agrees, though she fears the outside world. At the airport, her mother urges Nattie to “be kind,” while her older sister Abigail warns against cocaine. Nattie, aware of her own unsocial nature, is secretly excited to enter a world where intellect matters more than likability. She resists the urge to look back at her family, recalling the biblical story of Lot’s wife, and boards the plane determined not to look forward or backward until her new life begins.
Key Events
- Nattie receives a full-ride scholarship to Harvard, surprising her mother who assumed she would attend the local state university.
- At the airport, her mother and sister Abigail say goodbye; Abigail warns her not to do cocaine, and her mother repeatedly tells her to be kind.
- Nattie reflects on her father’s abandonment and the family’s cover story, establishing the theme of hidden truths.
- She recalls her childhood as an introverted, clever girl in a small Idaho town, where her mother worried about her lack of friends.
- Nattie boards the plane while consciously avoiding looking back, thinking of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt.
Character Development
Nattie – The chapter deepens our understanding of her internal conflict. She is intelligent and disciplined, but also socially isolated. Her decision to go to Harvard is a deliberate escape from a restrictive religious community where women are expected to be wives and mothers. She is pragmatic, even coldly so, willing to cut ties with her past.
Nattie’s mother (Eliza Heller) – She is a complex figure: a single mother who upholds the church’s values while managing the lie about her husband. She embodies pious resignation, urging Nattie to be kind as a survival strategy. Her fear of the outside world reflects her own limited worldview.
Abigail – Older sister, engaged to a hot-tempered boy named Bryce. She accepts her life in Idaho without question, representing the path Nattie rejects. Her warning about cocaine reveals the family’s fears about secular life.
Father (unnamed) – Though absent, he looms as a symbol of toxic masculinity and the hypocrisy of the church community (adultery, drinking).
Themes, Symbols, and Motifs
Escape vs. Duty – Nattie’s journey to Harvard is a physical and ideological escape from the constraints of her upbringing. Her mother’s plea to “be kind” suggests that social grace is a form of survival, while Nattie secretly believes intellect will liberate her.
Religious Hypocrisy – The father’s adultery and the mother’s cover story contrast with the community’s public piety. The mother’s nightly prayers about salvation are juxtaposed with the family’s private lies.
The Biblical Allusion to Lot’s Wife – Nattie deliberately avoids looking back at her family, equating hesitation with destruction. The motif of not looking back recurs later in the chapter, emphasizing her resolve to leave her old life behind.
Gender Roles – The chapter critiques the threefold duty of women (mother, wife, homemaker). Nattie’s intellectual ambition is seen as “concerningly so” by her mother, subverting expected female behavior.
Intellect vs. Likability – Nattie views Boston as a place where intelligence matters more than social charm, revealing her own sense of alienation in her hometown.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 2 establishes the foundational conflict of the novel: Nattie’s struggle to reconcile her religious, rural upbringing with the secular intellectual world she craves. It introduces the family secrets (the father’s abandonment) that will likely resurface, and it sets up the central theme of looking forward without regret. The chapter also contrasts the two female paths available to Nattie—her mother’s resigned piety and her sister’s early marriage—against the uncertain future she chooses for herself.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Nattie’s mother emphasize “being kind” at the airport?
She believes kindness is a universal tool that can reach anyone, and she worries about Nattie’s social awkwardness. In the religious community, being likable is a protective measure; her mother wants her to survive in a hostile world.
2. What does the biblical story of Lot’s wife symbolize for Nattie?
For Nattie, looking back represents attachment to a past she must leave behind. She fears that hesitation will lead to destruction (metaphorically becoming a “pillar of salt”). It underscores her determination to cut ties completely.
3. How does the chapter portray the limitations of Nattie’s religious community?
Through the father’s hidden adultery, the mother’s compelled silence, and the expectation that women produce many children, the community is shown as restrictive and hypocritical. Nattie’s mother regrets having only two children, viewing it as a sign of being unblessed, and the family’s small size is considered “suspicious.”